


Miya Atsumu and Sakusa Kiyoomi’s Guide to upheaving the World of Magic

by h0neybutterchips



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Enemies to Lovers, Mages, Magic, Minor Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some elements of fantasy, Warlocks, Witches, Wizards, arankita brainrot sometimes, im letting the brainrot consume me im sorry, majority of the characters are magical, no beta we die like daichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29169312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/h0neybutterchips/pseuds/h0neybutterchips
Summary: In a world where magic is present, Sakusa Kiyoomi refuses to take any part of it and Atsumu Miya just can't live without it.
Relationships: Kita Shinsuke/Ojiro Aran, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hi !! i am just . letting the brainrot consume me and this is my first try at writing something in a while so I apologize for any grammatical errors or if things are unclear !! please feel free to leave feedback !

“Well, I think that there’s certainly worse ways to announce your presence,” Atsumu remarks, putting his hands on his hips as he stares at the base of the building, squinting against the harsh daylight. “Mink again?”

“Now’s not the time,” Kita says, hastily taking out his wand, wiping away the bloodstains smeared on the wall, nose wrinkled. “But yes, it’s believed that Mink had a play in this. The bloodstains should be proof enough.”

It had been the third attack within the month, the third time that a bloody display had been put on show, giving some sort of warning. Something big was going to happen, or rather,  _ someone.  _

The first attack had been delivered directly to the Town center, a grandiose building engraved with the sacred animals of the magic community, leaving it stained an ashy grey color in contrast to its usually pristine walls. Atsumu and the others had spent hours scrubbing the building by hand, backs aching and arms sore for the next week. The perpetrator had been given the name  _ Mink _ , after the silver-blue color that had remained behind, even after the cleaning. 

The second attack had been delivered to the Gates of the World of the Undead, one threatening to mess with the three sacred rules, “unless he is returned”. There was no indication of who the person in question was, nor was there a clue in what had prompted the perpetrator to do this. However, the criminal had gotten their point across, as the sight of blood had driven the Ghosts into a frenzy, nearly threatening to break down the gates themselves and cease contact from Earth. Due to their panic, the Wizarding Committee had tasked the Foxes with the investigation of the person behind these attacks, before things escalated into something worse. 

As it turned out, the perpetrator must have caught wind about what the Wizarding Committee had done, and quickly changed to a slightly more violent course, threatening many of the other groups as well. The Owls had received a battered book about the History of Magic and the Snakes had received an old, parched paper that immediately dissolved into flames when the leader, Daisho Suguru held it in his hands. There was no content written on the paper. 

So here they were, on their third major attack of the month, Atsumu and Kita had gotten a head start (they were the closest), and were patiently waiting (on Kita’s part, Atsumu had been cussing out the rest of the group for being late on more than one occasion in the ten minutes they had been here) as the rest of the group slowly but surely arrived, staring at the scene. Atsumu looks on with them.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”, Aran asks, slightly horrified at the elementary, yet eerie display on the side of the building. Atsumu glances at him, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, as he shrugs. 

At the center of the double doors, the drawing of a weasel in the History of Magic textbook is tacked with a dagger. In Atsumu’s opinion, it was like staring at a horror movie cliché. The drawing had been torn out hastily, its edges frayed with both age and the sudden tear. Atsumu looks to the side of the drawing, where large, black words are engraved into the door.

_ One of you is responsible. _

It’s barely dawn when Atsumu opens his eyes. 


	2. Something is Wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that the prologue is done !! here's ch. 1 :D apologizing for anything related to grammar in advance ! if u have any questions let me know please !

Atsumu groans, before sitting up in his bed, pulling the covers a little closer to his chest as he massages his temples. 

_One of you is responsible._

Responsible for what? There were so few clues that “Mink” had left behind that as of the present day, the drawing of the weasel was the closest lead to finding out just who was behind the name. Was Mink implying that there was a mole within the wizarding community? Or was it just some random magic-user who was mad that someone had taken his pet (Atsumu had seen something like this happen before, in a bar once. It wasn’t pretty and the bar had to be shut down just half an hour later.) 

Taking in a shaky breath, Atsumu covers his face with his hands, taking a moment to glance out of the window beside him. There wasn’t any use in going back to sleep now, not when the daylight was just about to set in. As he heaves himself out of the bed, grunting as he pushes open his bedroom door, he brings several items towards the center table in the living area. 

Sitting on his knees in front of the low table, he steadies the jar of leaves floating towards him with both hands, ensuring that it wouldn’t suddenly lose control and come crashing to the floor. A cup of water, half-full, had been placed in the middle of the table already. He carefully grabs a leaf each from both the left and right sides of the jar before securing the lid. The jar makes its way on its own towards the empty spot next to Atsumu, teetering slightly. 

He puts a leaf in each hand, before bringing his hands together tightly. He then moves his hands towards his face, and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. 

And he blows a gust of air. He can feel his hands heating up from the inside of the leaves, but he makes sure to keep his eyes shut tightly, waiting for the waning of both light and heat before opening them.

The two leaves were now one, as though it were a double-edged sword. Atsumu inspects the leaf carefully, making mental notes about which side represents what. 

It was a ritual that Atsumu had found himself doing about once a month, or maybe once every few months if things were relatively calm within the Wizarding community. He had dubbed it his “Stability ritual”, where he was required to take one of the leaves from the World of the Undead and a leaf from his world, binding them together into a singular leaf. He then lays the leaf delicately on top of the surface of the water in the glass and _pushes._

It’s hard to describe what he’s doing in particular. But what Atsumu does know is that it takes a large amount of magic, and he has to put his complete concentration and power into making sure that the leaf is kept dry as he submerges it into the water. If the leaf comes out dry, Atsumu knows that nothing bad will happen relatively soon. If either side of the leaf comes out wet, Atsumu knows that something major (almost always something horrific) is going to happen to the magic veil on one side. On the rare occasion that it’s both (which hasn’t happened in quite some time now, now that he thinks about it), catastrophe. 

However, nothing would have prepared him for something like this.

He stares at the leaf, now burning on both sides as it floats on top of the water, seemingly completely unaffected by what it was surrounded by. Atsumu blinks once. Twice.

_Something’s definitely wrong._

Atsumu has barely put himself together, wearing mismatching socks and still with his bedhead, as he rushes out the door, making almost a mad sprint to the library just a few blocks away. 

It’s a normal library, with any section of literature that anyone could ask for, complete with the tacky bulletin posted at the small entrance hall on the opposite wall of where the bathrooms were. However, it was a well-kept secret between the Wizards and Witches in the area that if one goes directly to the back study room, they would be able to enter the Wizarding town (if they ever had to talk about it in public, they had called the town by the name of “H”, Atsumu would like to know who decided to come up with that) by walking straight through the wall with the windows. In order to ensure the secrecy of H, the study room had always been marked as “Occupied”, and if questioned, all one had to say was that they were a part of the study group that had booked the room. 

It’s a little bit archaic, in Atsumu’s opinion. While the occupied sign is enough to keep most people out, there were always non-magical people that were too curious for their own good. What would happen then?

Not that Atsumu had heard of this happening in the years that he’s lived here, but it’s a thought that comes to mind every time he stands in front of the study room door, moving his hand to turn the knob. 

He stands there, dumbfounded as he sees that someone is already here. Not stepping towards the mirror, but in fact, planted in a seat farthest away from the windowed wall, reading without a care in the world.

_What the fuck?_

Atsumu clears his throat, hoping that it would catch the person’s attention. “Y’know this place is occupied right?”, he says, as he motions towards the occupied sign on the door.

The other person doesn’t even spare a glance, eyes seemingly glued to the book. Atsumu stares at the book in hand, face twisting as he looks at the cover. It seemed to be a book about normal plants (personally, Atsumu thinks that the Magical Botany is a little bit more interesting, but in the end, both bore him all the same). 

_Was this guy serious?_

“Look.” Atsumu snaps, as he places both of his hands in front of the table in front of the person, “I’ve got this room booked, could you not look at the sign before you waltzed in? Because you seem to be able to read just fine to me.” He glares, just for good measure.

The person glances up, brow raised, clearly irritated now. They slam the book shut, before returning Atsumu’s glare and leaving without a word. Atsumu stares at the person’s back, furrowing his brows. 

They didn’t seem to be like someone who was a mage, or else they probably wouldn’t have been doing leisure reading in this room as they would’ve entered through the gates of H already. But they had decided to sit in an occupied room anyway. Atsumu huffs, as he closes the door to the study room, waiting for a few seconds to make sure that the person had truly left.

Once the coast was clear, he takes a deep breath before walking towards the windowed wall, letting the familiar warmth of magic wash over him once again.

On the other side of the blip, the town of H is always bustling, filled with motion as witches and wizards alike are scurrying from building to building, running errands. But today seems to be especially rushed, as everyone walks with their heads down, hurried to get to their destination. The usual conversation and laughter that used to be were now gone, now replaced by the rustling of paper as a bunch of posters fly around the town trying to find an empty space on the building walls to attach themselves to. 

Atsumu rips one off of the corner of the nearest building. It was a bright blue _WANTED_ poster, filled with the details that the Foxes had uncovered so far about the Masked Mink (which hadn’t been much, if Atsumu had to admit). So far the only details that they had uncovered was that the Mink worked alone, evidently had some sort of protective face gear (probably to hide his identity), and one of the top priorities that needed to be dealt with in the Wizarding Committee. 

Atsumu skims over this, before letting out a low whistle once he sees the bounty placed over the Mink’s head. _100,000 Joules?_ That was enough money to last a wizard for at least ten spell cycles, and maybe a VIP guarantee to the potions store. It really did seem like the Wizarding Committee was taking Mink as their first priority after all.

Atsumu makes his way to the bookstore, and as he makes his way through the entrance he feels a warm weight settling on his face as the store’s phoenix chirps happily at him. Atsumu laughs, as he takes the bird in his hands and holds it out in front of him.

“And how’s my favorite bird of all time doing?” he cooed, petting the bird’s head gently. The bird chirps eagerly at him, before flying off towards the stack of books at the back of the store. After a moment, a fox emerges from the back, studying Atsumu carefully. 

It was one of the selling points of the bookstore, the magical animals who helped mages find exactly what they were looking for with just a glance. Atsumu isn’t sure what the magic behind it all was about, but it was comforting to know that even if he didn’t know where to start looking for the information, the bookstore fox would always help. 

The fox leaves Atsumu alone after making sure that Atsumu is at the correct aisle, before wandering off back into the depths of the storage room in the back. Atsumu, wondering where he could start, thinks long and hard about the clues that they’ve gathered so far about Mink, and what the possible cause behind the attacks could be. 

So far, Atsumu has a list of three things:

  * _It has something to do with a weasel._


  * Someone is missing.


  * (cont. From pt. 2) that someone missing was never investigated



Atsumu finds a thick, battered book floating towards him, teetering due to Atsumu’s weak summoning spells (summoning spells really aren’t his specialty, the most he can manage is two bottles of water on an average day) and just the sheer weight of the book itself.

Atsumu stares at the title, _Wizarding Societies and Systems throughout History_ , as the book lands in his hands and opens abruptly, the pages flipping themselves until it lands on a certain section.

It was about a group called the Weasels.

_Well, that explains the drawing,_ Atsumu thinks, as he’s met with an identical drawing of the weasel from the attack a few days ago. Atsumu reads through the section thoroughly.

There were names some of the notable people that had been a part of the group (a few war heroes, and a long list of famous wizarding duelists), and how it had risen to power under the idea of both united and individual effort, ultimately becoming one of the strongest groups in the country, competing directly against the White Swans. Atsumu narrows his eyes, as he brings his face closer to the book in order to read what was written next.

The group had dissolved a year previous to the 26th spell cycle (which made it roughly about 5 years ago), because one of their junior members, Komori Motoya, disappeared. Well, not so much directly because of that, but rather because of the chaos that divided the group within. The Weasels had been assigned to a mission to the World of the Undead, and not only failed to complete whatever mission they were assigned to but were left with their leader, Tsukasa Iiuzuna, injured as well. The injury hadn’t been that severe, according to the reports that Iiuzuna had written himself later, but the damage had been done. The other members of the Weasels had started accusing the Wizarding Council (Atsumu sort of wishes he had got to been able to see that, but since he had been a junior member of the Foxes during that time, had probably been kept in the dark about it on purpose), which led to the tensions rising between the other groups (now that one, Atsumu remembers). They had driven themselves mad. Many of the members had walked out, some even going as far as vowing to never step foot through the veil of magic again, which led to the official dissolving after a year of this.

Atsumu closes the book, thinking about everything he had just read. If they were sent on a mission, one that resulted in their leader being injured, then chances were that it had consisted of two junior members and the leader, completing a trio. Everything came in threes in the wizarding world, especially with missions. The fact that the book mentioned that Komori Motoya was a junior member tested this. However, there was nothing to be found on the other junior member that would have journeyed alongside the two. Atsumu had his suspicions, as he put the book back to its proper shelf, wondering what the truth really was behind the book’s small blurb about the dissolution. A group based on effort, suddenly in the falling outs? That didn’t seem very likely. There was something bigger at play, Atsumu was certain of it.

But then that left him with one last question.

_What was the third member up to now?_

  
Inside the library, Sakusa Kiyoomi narrows his eyes at the back study room, before going to sit at the front desk of the library for his shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Groups:  
> Foxes- Inarizaki  
> Weasels- Itachimiya  
> White Swans- Shiratorizawa
> 
> This is a setting related thing about the town's name being H! There's all sorts of magical pockets around this universe, so they're named after the alphabet in order to avoid confusion. 
> 
> I'm so sorry that there hasn't been much dialogue- there'll be a lot more next chapter as more characters come out !!


	3. Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more characters this time around!! hoorah ! :D please see the end notes for extra details about the magical universe!!

Atsumu makes his way through the busy streets, hands jammed in his pockets and posture stiff as he cranes his neck, searching for the familiar logo of Onigiri Miya. 

Osamu had left the Wizard Committee and the Foxes a few years ago, but still had permission from the Committee to use his magic (a registration process that had to be renewed every spell cycle, last time Atsumu had heard) in order to help run his restaurant. Not that Osamu didn’t slack off because of magic, no. Atsumu had seen it himself (begrudgingly, sulking in the corner at the idea of no longer having his twin brother being by his side in missions and other mage business) back then, watching Osamu design and help piece together the layout of the dining area.

_ “Are you sure about this?”, Atsumu asks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as Osamu pulls off his cap, sighing. “There’s no going back from this, y’know… You’re most likely going to be banned from going on missions for as long as you live.” Atsumu couldn’t fathom the idea of being banned from going on missions, much less not being able to use magic as he pleases. _

_ “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure, right?” Osamu asks, as he sets the cap down on the counter table, smiling at the embroidered logo. “Besides, what good is magic if you can’t use it for the things that you like?” _

_ Atsumu huffs, unable to come up with anything to say back, for once.  _

If he had to be truthful, it was evident that he and Osamu were two different people long before they diverged paths. Osamu had wanted to go into the food business, and his magic attested to that. His specialty magic was that he had none, but was solid in all the areas, which differed from Atsumu’s Stability specialty, despite the fact that they were born from the same exact DNA. Funny how magic worked in strange ways like that. But when Osamu had discovered (or in Atsumu’s words, realized) his passion for food, he went all in, studying all types of recipes whether it was magical or not. He remembers Osamu experimenting with his magic trying out these recipes, mixing some together, trying to find what worked. It was in the kitchen where Osamu used the most magic, oftentimes trying to solve things with near brute force anywhere else.

Atsumu lived  _ because  _ of magic, not because he wanted to use it to enhance something else. He liked what he did, providing stability to the Foxes during missions and being involved with learning about the new advancements the Wizarding world had made, whether it be the discovery of a new combination of potion ingredients, to an invented spell. He knew which areas of magic he did best, and made sure that everyone adapted well to it. His presence alone almost guaranteed success in any magical endeavor, as long as he had his head screwed on right. 

Before long, Atsumu finds himself at the door of Onigiri Miya. The familiar chime of the bell rings as he’s seated at the center counter (Atsumu likes to call it “his” spot, despite Osamu insisting that he’d rather burn the restaurant down then give Atsumu a chair of his own). A plate of a set of 5 fatty tuna onigiri is set out in front of him, before Osamu emerges from the curtains behind the counter, arms crossed.

“So what’s been bothering you?”, He asks, as Atsumu grabs one of the onigiri, groaning at the question. Where would he even start? 

Legally speaking, and as far as the Wizarding Committee is concerned, Osamu left the magic world and its affairs years ago, all he has to show that he used to be a part of it is a permit to continue to be able to use his magic. The Wizarding Committee had banned those who decided to leave becoming completely involved behind the veil of magic from knowing the events that folded within. But when you have a twin brother that’s obsessed with everything magic has to offer, well, sometimes the rules are forgotten. Atsumu made sure that Osamu swore that he would never tell anyone, so they’re safe.

“There’s been another attack from Mink!” Atsumu says, after swallowing furiously, letting his accent out a bit more now that he’s with his brother, “And he’s given us the biggest clue yet, something about the Weasels. Searched through the bookstore the other day, and there’s all sorts of mystery behind it. There’s a disappearance, its members going mad after that… It makes absolutely no sense!”. There’s a few moments pause as Atsumu takes several more bites. “How’s a group like that based off of friendship and shit be completely dissolved within the next few months! There’s something bigger at play, I’m telling ya’. The fact that they won’t even name some of the people involved is telling enough.”

“ And…?” Osamu asks, as he raises his brow, “Don’t see how this concerns you anyhow. It’s not like the Council would’ve just sat there twiddlin’ their thumbs throughout the whole ordeal.”

“It’s obvious the book is a cover up!” Atsumu shouts, “Someone’s coverin’ something up!” 

“Are you sure?” Osamu questions, hand resting under his chin as he thinks about the plausibility of Atsumu’s hypothesis. It was no secret that the Wizarding Committee had had its fair share of unfair councils and jurisdictions, especially when a spell cycle was particularly rough. But the current Council kept a tight ship, making sure that everyone did their part… it was unlikely that they would have played a part in the dissolution of the Weasels, much less try and cover it up. Atsumu had always been considered the more reckless of the two (though Osamu personally thought that it was a lie, he wasn’t the type to get dragged into things he didn’t want to do, after all. He was just quiet about it.), it wasn’t far-fetched to say that he was a bit too involved with the case at hand. But implying that there was someone at foul play within the Wizarding Committee or even the High Council… Well…

Atsumu pauses, deciding to take a few minutes to chew as he ponders over Osamu’s question. It was true that the information he had was distorted at best, or absolutely downright false at worst. Keeping up with records within the world of magic was a hard task too, as people are discouraged from putting their actual pictures on official magical documents in fear that they may get lost and then discovered by normal humans (there’s several cases of this throughout history, Atsumu remembers seeing several of these discovered documents behind glass covers when he would spend his time wandering around museums). Besides, it wasn’t as though a photo would do much good to begin with, as appearances could be easily changed with the use of magic. Most mages were identified based off of their specialty, or just with their name alone if they didn’t necessarily have one. 

Nonetheless, Atsumu was certain that there was someone pulling strings behind everyone’s back. There had to be a reason why Mink was doing this, playing some sort of tug-of-war with the entire Wizarding Committee, as though it were some sort of game. Atsumu was certain that Mink wouldn’t stop until someone came forward. The person was certainly desperate enough, if their frequent attacks were anything to go by.

However, there was only one question left.

_ Who was Mink trying to draw out? _

Atsumu looks up at Osamu, a new determination set in his face as he nods. 

***

Sakusa lays down the cups of tea on the appropriate coasters, settling down on one side of the table, staring at the packet of papers at the center of the table. On the opposite side of him sits Ushijima Wakatoshi, who had taken the cup in both hands, sipping politely. The latter did not make any note about the fact that Sakusa wasn’t using any magic, something that could’ve made the simple task over in a matter of seconds, and for that, Sakusa was grateful.

“So, how are things?” Sakusa asks, as he brings his own cup to his lips, “Moving to a new place, especially in a time like this…”

Ushijima gives a small smile, as he waves his hands, not particularly understanding what Sakusa was trying to imply. It had only been a few months since he had come back to become involved with the Swans (he had been gone for several years before that for family matters) and the Town of H. “It’s been fine, all things considered. Jet lag is something that I’ve become accustomed to, over the years going back and forth through traveling with my father. I’ve learned more about both magic and people, something that I’m incredibly thankful for.”

Sakusa raises an eyebrow, leaning a bit forward, curious, “How so?”

Ushijima puts down his cup, allowing it to sit warm between his two hands. “I met an old acquaintance, or rather friend who had left the Swans a while back, shortly before I went to go visit my father. It was in Paris, surprisingly. He’s renounced the magical world entirely, saying that while it may always be a part of his life, he’s glad to be moving forward. It led me to rethink the kind of magic I’ve been searching for.”

Sakusa listens to Ushijima’s words, pondering over what Ushijima could have possibly meant by rethinking the magic he’s been searching for. It could be a soft coax to getting him involved with the Wizarding Community once again, after everything that had happened after those years. But Sakusa sincerely doubts it. Throughout his time of knowing Ushijima Wakatoshi, if there was anything that man was, it was honest. Perhaps to the point where it was considered blunt, but everyone knew that it was just in the man’s nature. 

Sakusa allows himself to briefly remember the time when he was constantly searching for new ways of using magic, all those years ago. To rethink about his abilities every so often, and improving to the point where he had basically come anew. It was all just but a memory now, something that Sakusa had bluntly put a stop to once he had unofficially left the Wizarding Community, wanting to learn how to experience things without the aid of magic there to aid in his shortcomings. 

Not that he had denounced magic completely, of course. It was one of those things that you just couldn’t let go once you got a hold of it. Magic in its very nature, was a curious thing like that. Hard to obtain and relied primarily on luck, but once you made it past that first threshold, everything seemed to expand out before you. Endless. He had told himself that he was never going to get involved with the community, but he had never said anything about leaving magic behind completely, even if his magic was now rusty with unuse. 

“I think…” Ushijima says, with a tone of finality, breaking Sakusa’s train of thought, “I would consider myself lucky. For everything that’s gotten me to the point where I am today.”

Ah. That’s right. Ushijima had been re-appointed to the High Council for H towards the end of his personal leave.

The two spent a while afterwards talking about random tidbits of their personal lives. Sakusa talks about his job at the library. Ushijima talks about his conversations with his old Swan (ex-Swan?) friend, hopefully applying for a wizarding position nearby France in the hopes of experiencing new types of magic once the current spell cycle was over. 

Sakusa closes the door after seeing Ushijima out, the man seemingly gliding before disappearing entirely. Sakusa waits behind the closed door for several minutes, making sure that the man was gone before he begins to move.

He slips into his basement, twisting open a large, metal door with the touch of the tip of his wand. The room is large, and seemingly empty, save for the chair in the middle of the room and a large bulletin board that takes up the space of one of the walls. The bulletin board seems to be the only sign that someone was frequently visiting the room, cluttered with papers tacked in every which direction, all connected by a golden string.

Sakusa tacks the  _ WANTED!  _ Leaflet Ushijima had given him amongst the pile of papers (many of them were reminders for when the next council meeting was going to be held, why they felt the need to waste so much paper, Sakusa had no idea). The leaflet now resides next to a picture of a man with brown hair and rounded eyebrows, giving an easy-going smile at the camera, the two now centered on the large bulletin board.

Sakusa stares at the picture for a bit, before willing himself to study over the other information stacked around the bulletin board. 

It was filled with the information known to mages about the World of the Undead, and the eerie darkness that resided outside of its borders. There was never a time where this phenomenon started in the textbooks, and certainly anyone in the World of the Undead who may have been there to tell the tale of the days before were long gone. Somewhere beyond the undead. 

Sakusa had heard of the tales growing up, as he was constantly surrounded by wizards and witches alike. Fictional tales about the world that expanded past the World of the Undead, said to be filled with mystery in every corner, and a guaranteed adventure in every path that you took. They had said that it was beautiful, almost unbelievable to the human eye. 

But those were just tales. The truth was, the Darkness had always been there, and this could be proven by fact. Sakusa had always steered himself towards the facts, something that could be proven time and time again. This can be testified by the short bullet point list of what he’s gathered from his years of desperately researching into the Darkness, the thing that was keeping the World of the Undead in a cage. 

There are three bullet points, rules, on this list.

  1. Do not attempt to try and step into the Darkness.
  2. Do not do anything to provoke the Darkness.
  3. Do not try to question the role of the Darkness, accept it as its role of the protector to the World of the Undead.



  
_ Protect it from what? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Spell cycles are every 7 years. Right now they're right in the middle of the current spell cycle!  
> \- Ushijima's specialty is in Attack, but he's contributed a lot of his magical talent to simply luck and hard work!  
> \- the person Ushijima is talking about is Tendou!


	4. The Committee Meeting

Atsumu is waiting on a stool in the dining room of Onirigi Miya, chatting idly with Osamu as he waits for the rest of the Foxes to arrive. The sign on the door is switched to large blocked words saying CLOSED, ensuring that no customers would be overhearing their conversation.

As he had officially left the world of magic, Osamu wasn’t required to attend the Committee meetings (they weren’t held all too often- they were held every 3 months on average), he preferred to attend himself, figuring it was easier to get the information from its source rather than having to hear from Atsumu’s retelling of events. (Atsumu likes to think he’s a credible source, thank you very much.) Not only that but, well, the restaurant had been slow lately, whether it was because of the cold weather or the new convenience store that had opened down the street (not that that’s Osamu’s business, not at all). 

Kita and Aran are the first to arrive, arms linked as they give a small greeting to the twins. Aran yawns, as he settles into a booth, draping himself across the table. Kita slides into the booth next to him, taking one look at Aran before draping his own jacket over his head, keeping the light out of Aran’s eyes. He then decides to take a thick folder out of his bag, organizing through the various leaflets and parched papers, ensuring that everything was ready for the meeting. Well, it made sense that he had to, being a member of the High Council. Atsumu had wondered why Kita had always preferred to go to the committee meetings with the rest of the Foxes, rather than going earlier like the rest of the High Council members do. He remembers asking, a few years ago when the new spell cycle had started.

Kita had said something about how he wasn’t always going to be a High Council member forever, and that he had already set himself a routine of going to the meetings with the Foxes, and even though he had been appointed to the position of High Council, it was something that he wouldn’t change for anything. 

_ “Besides,” Kita says, as he gives Atsumu one of his rare Kita Shinsuke smiles (yes, Atsumu counts it as something rare, especially in the odd, odd case of Kita Shinsuke), “Who would keep the rest of you from potentially causing a disaster at the entrance?” _

Several of the other members file in, lounging around the seats of the dining room. Kita greets all of them, only breaking eye contact from his paperwork in order to give them a proper lookover as he gives his nod of approval. No one says a word about the fact that he is nestled against the warmth of a dozing Aran’s back. 

Atsumu and Osamu think that Aran and Kita are cute, but in a way that would probably only make sense in a wonder that was Kita Shinsuke and Ojiro Aran. The twins had known the two for years, way back to when they were all just mages studying in the open air of the forest after school. While Kita had come later into the picture, only joining them for their last few years of high school, Aran had been constantly mentioning someone by the name of Shinsuke in their conversations, the name slipping in their daily talks every here and there. 

_ “I’m telling ya’!” Aran says, as he puts down his History of Magic textbook. Atsumu and Osamu have decided to ignore their studies completely for the day, deciding to pass and bump a volleyball between the two of them, “Shinsuke’s got the greatest charms spells ever, I’ve seen it! It’s like magic ya’ve never seen before!” _

_ Atsumu and Osamu stare at him, both of them wearing an identical expression as they have their head cocked to the side, eyebrows raised in confusion. Charms spells weren’t something that the two were particularly interested in, nor were they particularly alluring, like Dueling spells were. Charms spells were simple and often required little magic. The twins spare a glance at one another, both deciding that it would be best not to bring this fact up to Aran. _

_ The twins had gotten the pleasure of meeting Kita three years after this, when Aran was in his final year of high school. And while the twins may have thought that charms spells were simple, nothing about Kita Shinsuke was. _

“Atsumu. Osamu.” Kita calls out, as he motions towards the door. Osamu is putting on his coat, as Atsumu is brought out of his thoughts. “The two of you are up next, Aran and I will follow you in a few minutes afterward.”

__ As there was only one portal to the town of H, people often had to go in groups, and there was a strict schedule on who could arrive at a certain time in order to avoid suspicion. How no one’s realized that no one comes back out of the room despite the steady influx of people going in, Atsumu has no clue. They go in small groups in order to appear more like a study group, rather than a flock of mages rushing to go behind the veil.

Atsumu walks into the library, a small smile coming to his face as he’s hit with the familiar smell of paper and ink, he notices that the front desk of the library isn’t lonely anymore. His face falls once he realizes who it is.

It was the same guy that had decided to occupy the study room for no magical purpose, just a few days ago. Atsumu raises his eyebrow, his full attention on the other man. If the man behind the desk notices, he makes no effort to acknowledge Atsumu’s existence. 

“Quit starin’”, Osamu scolds as he elbows Atsumu, who grunts at the blunt force (and the wrath that is his twin brother’s elbow), “Ya’ still need to tell me about the menu change in the food shops ‘round the town, asshole.”

Atsumu gives Osamu a glare, as the person behind the desk looks up, brows furrowed and seemingly ready to tell them to be quiet any minute now if they dared to talk any louder. (The twins had always been told that they were loud when they were together, it wasn’t something that could be helped, really.) For some reason, this pisses Atsumu off greatly.

“You’d know if you bothered showing yer butt around more often, ‘Samu.” He snaps, before opening the door to the back study room. The twins face the wall and walk together into the town of H.

The Wizarding Committee meetings were always held at around noon, the town of H left completely deserted as all the mages were required to attend. During the committee meeting, all of the shops and recreational centers surrounding the town were closed, leaving the sole receiver for attention in the town center.

The Town Hall, much like everything else about magical spaces, was larger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside. When Atsumu was still younger and learning the ropes from Kita, he remembers getting a brief description of the layout of the Town Hall. Built roughly about fifteen stories high, but only contained a few rooms. There was a small room set aside for the High Council meetings, which were required by the Rules of Mages to be held in a different area than the regular Committee meetings (Logically, Atsumu knows it's because for High Council meetings require closer proximity than the Committee meeting. If Atsumu were being honest, he found it kind of unnecessary.) There was a hall of about roughly five rooms dedicated to magical weapons and storage of precious artifacts from the mages of the past and a separate room specifically for missions debriefings and reports. 

The majority of the space, however, was dedicated to a single, grandiose chamber. It was dimly lit, on the inside, the majority of the light source coming from the floating orbs of light that wandered around the hall, occasionally bouncing off the walls. On most days, there was a neat stack of desks and chairs tucked away in the corner (or as tucked away as several hundred of them could get). 

It was here where most of the Committee meetings were held, as wizards entered, two at a time (or even individually, if they had to) and sat in their seats before the furniture began to rise, ensuring that everyone had space to themselves within the chamber hall without it being suffocating. While a bit too much for Atsumu’s tastes, he can’t deny that it was an efficient way of utilizing the space of the entire chamber. All of the desks are facing in one direction, towards a much larger desk located in the center and more towards the ground than the rest, which was where the High Council resided. 

Atsumu and Osamu sit at a desk, as it rises and situates itself within the grand hall, both mages keeping their eyes on the desk of the High Council. However, Atsumu finds himself staring a little bit past the desk of the High Council, as a familiar face catches his eye.

The man from the library, what the hell was he doing here?

Sakusa keeps his eyes trained downwards, fists clenched, determined not to make eye contact with anyone. He reminded himself that he was only attending these meetings out of necessity, but in every other way, he had already denounced the Wizarding world. He needed information, in whatever form he could take it in. While he was grateful that his desk had put him towards a spot where not many people were circled around him, it did little to comfort him from the fact that he was here, in a room that was essentially a magical powerhouse at the moment. 

There’s a sound of a book being slammed onto a table in order to call for attention, as the High Council positioned themselves. 

The High Council consisted of three wizards: Kita Shinsuke, Ushijima Wakatoshi, and Iwaizumi Hajime. Like the majority of the Wizarding world, they too had positioned themselves into threes. They talked quietly amongst themselves, organizing and doing a final check of all their paperwork before turning around to address the group. 

“As we get into this meeting,” Shinsuke says, as he conjures a thin sheet of smoke in the center of the room, displaying an image of the World of the Undead, “We’ll start with what matters most.”

The Wizard Committee meetings were always held with three key points each. The first topic of discussion was always about the World of the Undead, its population, a brief overview of what it contained (for those that were of age and could now attend committee meetings, Atsumu likes to zone out during this time), and an in-depth account of what had happened to the world between the last committee meeting to the meeting now. Atsumu had been aware that time flowed differently between the two dimensions, but he had never been in the World of the Undead long enough to find out. 

The second point, presented by the leader of the Swans, was an elaboration of the first point and was (in Atsumu’s opinion) the more important of the two. As Ushijima droned on about the new legislation that had now been put into place for the next three months to ensure that both worlds live together. Not that Atsumu paid much attention to this either, as he isn’t necessarily concerned with the law. Typically his job was to stabilize the magic of those who knew these laws by heart (which may or may not be his secret as to why he hadn’t been in major trouble so far), and if truth be told, he was afraid of the World of the Undead. He grew up hearing tales about mages who went in there and never came back, unprepared for all the dangers that roamed about. And once they were gone, there was nothing that the Wizarding community could do about it, as they often found out too late. Years later, even. 

Atsumu shivers at the thought. 

After the second point, there was a brief break as mages took this time to chat and catch up with neighbors. During this time, Atsumu decides to study the man from the library, who is currently talking to the leader of the Swans.

_ How the fuck is a dude like that talking to a dude like Ushijima? _ Atsumu wonders, as he hides behind a book that sat at the corner of the desk he and Osamu shared, staring down at the interaction. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, though he could have if he were really nosy. But Ushijima wasn’t someone that seemed shady in character. And the conversation was probably nothing about him, all the more reason not to pry into their conversation. He’s barely aware of the questioning glances Osamu gives before the younger twin wanders away, towards the Foxes.

Once the bell chimes, the mages then all clamber back into their seats, using their own magic in order to get back to the floating desks. If he were any younger, Atsumu would’ve used this opportunity to play pranks on those coming up (in fact, he did, though he had been told to stop by Kita and the fear of that day has stopped him from doing so again ever since). 

The meeting then goes into its final (and Atsumu’s favorite) point: the missions. Bokuto Koutarou yells excitedly about the list of missions that were to take place in the next three months as well as telling those that were here for the first time (or those who had forgotten) where to sign up and what the sign-up process entails. Atsumu attentively listens (though it isn’t hard to listen to someone like Bokuto, his presence and magic filling up the entire room), making a mental note of the missions that he finds himself interested in. 

Maybe when the investigation on the Masked Mink is over, he’d sign up to participate on the excursion to the Fields of Illusion to find some potions ingredients (he had noticed that the potions store had been low on supply lately, that was most likely what the mission was about).  _ It’s not a bad thought _ , Atsumu thinks, as his brain reels for details about the Fields of Illusion. He could possibly pick up a new branch of magic there, then come back home to experiment with it for the next couple of months before signing up for the next mission.

As the meeting is adjourned, all of the desks come down slowly, level by level in order to ensure that everyone has left in an orderly fashion, Atsumu makes note of the man from the library. While the rest of the mages are relaxed and hanging about, in no hurry to leave, the man from the library leaves right away. If Atsumu had been any less sharp, he thinks that he would’ve missed the man’s departure already. 

“Would ya’ quit staring?” Osamu asks, bringing his twin out of his thoughts. Atsumu snaps up, glaring at his brother as the two begin to make their descent. “Ya’ve been doin’ it all day. What’s up with that?”

“I’m just payin’ attention,” Atsumu grumbles, as the two make their way out of the chamber and towards the courthouse garden where the other Foxes were. “‘M allowed to do that, aren’t I?”

Osamu gives him a look that’s half exasperated and half disgusted ( _ Seriously,  _ Atsumu thinks, _ If he keeps that up his face is gonna stick like that. _ ), but thankfully says nothing more on the topic. He’s already spotted the Foxes, waving his arms in greeting.

The rest of the day is spent having dinner (Osamu’s choice) and then drinking together. Once it hits three in the morning, the Foxes part ways, Atsumu and Kita in one group (they live just down the street from the bar, in an apartment complex in the town of H. Lucky them.) and the rest of the Foxes in another, as they stumble their way through the portal. 

As Atsumu crashes back into his apartment, not even bothering to take his shoes off, he forms a shoddy plan of action on what to do next. But for what, he isn’t sure, there’s a spiral of topics bouncing around his head right now. The Masked Mink? The missions he wants to sign up for? How he’s going to get Osamu back for the times Osamu had pranked him at the bar? 

_No_ , he thinks, as he crawls into his bed, pulling the covers up close, staring at the window until the curtains close themselves, leaving him to think in complete darkness. There’s one topic that bothers him the most, more than the Masked Mink and even the prospect of getting even with Osamu. 

He’s going to look into the man from the library. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the slow updates! I've been swamped with schoolwork... it's no fun at all :/ I'll try to get these chapters out as soon as I can though! (I've got several chapters ahead planned :D)
> 
> This is my first time getting back into writing in a while, so any feedback is appreciated please! :D


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